This article is from page 12 of the 2013-04-30 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 12 JPG
CANCER patients in Clare who are attending Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Limerick, for chemotherapy treatment are being encouraged to avail of a free transport service provided by the Irish Cancer Society.
The national charity’s ‘Care to Drive’ is the second such organisation to provide this service in the county, as the West Clare Mini Marathon Centre has provided a free taxi service for cancer patients for 15 years.
The Kilkee-based organisation takes patients for treatment to Ennis, Limerick, Galway and Dublin, and also provides the service to patients requiring radiotherapy which can take up to 35 days over seven weeks.
From this week however the Irish Cancer Society will provide a volunteer transport service for patients requiring chemotherapy at the Mid Western Regional Hospital Limerick.
The society said from late autumn, it intendeds that Care to Drive will operate from Galway University Hospital and it is hoped that patients from North Clare could be also be brought to this cancer centre of excellence.
The Irish Cancer Society’s Care to Drive service offers patients transport from their front door to the door of the hospital and home again which will help to alleviate some of the stress or difficulty associated with getting to their appointments.
Care to Drive is a volunteer-delivered service where the Irish Cancer Society recruits and trains volunteers who give their time free of charge to drive patients to and from hospital. Cancer patients may need to use Care to Drive for a number of reasons: they may have been advised not to drive by their doctor due to the aggressive nature of treatment, the patient may have no family in the immediate vicinity or they may be unable to take time off work to transport them to the hospital.
The society currently has more than 27 drivers in Clare available for anyone travelling to Mid-Western Regional Hospital Limerick for cancer treatment. Last year, Care to Drive volunteers across the country brought 402 cancer patients on 6,392 journeys travelling 237,708km.
Any cancer patient who is interested in availing of the service should speak to the social worker in MidWestern Regional Hospital or talk to their oncology nurse when they are receiving treatment.